Lover of the Lake
by Yuki Kimagure
Summary: [AU] Prince Riku is forced to run away when his brother destroys the kingdom out jealousy. Resting at a mystical pond, he finds Sora, the genderless Lady of the Lake. Will Sora help him find the will to win his kingdom back? RikuxSora YAOI R&R!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney do.

A/N: I started this story because I was listening to "May it Be" by Enya and I kind of got swept up into the feeling. You know the song, it's from The Lord of the Rings, and it's the pretty one, the slow one. So yeah, my fantasy side will be coming out in this. So bear with me. I used to be a big Escaflowne fan so it'll get pretty intense. Well, enjoy.

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Lover of the Lake

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**Chapter One:** _Prologue_

The morning was spectacular. The birds were singing and everything was aglow. Today was the day that the kingdom was to know which of the two crowned princes would become king of Midgard. The youngest boy, Riku, aged eleven, ran through the halls, wooden sword in hand. A few of the maids clutched up their skirts, trying to chase the boy down to retrieve the tablecloth that he had draped over his shoulders.

It wasn't an abnormal thing to see the boy pulling some prank like this, even at his age. Though he was a prince, he never really had constant contact with the outside world and society, making him free from the expected maturity of that age. In his mind, he was a child and he enjoyed it as he played tricks on the maids, playing hide and seek in the hanging laundry lines with Prince Tidus of Zanarkand, or teasing the princesses that his father would bring for him.

He never understood why he needed to marry any one of those delicate little girls. He needed someone who could spar with him and run and tumble in the fields with. The only girl he knew that was like that was his mother, the one that had given him the love of the outdoors and the field. So when he was a small boy and his father told about the inevitability of him marrying, he simply told him that he would marry his mother when the time comes, earning a chuckle from him in amusement.

About to turn the corner, he was suddenly stopped, rather, crashed into one of the guards. He was tall and was fitted in the normal royal army garb of a long indigo tunic with silver stitched through and black pants tucked into well worn brown boots. His spiky black hair made him look like a human hedgehog, giving him his favorite nickname 'Hedgie.'

As he stopped, the maids caught up to him and yanked the now dirtied tablecloth from his collar, giving him a stern look. He was always a troublemaker but the whole castle always loved him anyway.

"Thank goodness you arrived Sir Zack," said one of the maids breathlessly as she bundled up the cloth in her arms. The man simply grinned and pulled the young prince gently with him.

"Now you know young prince that you were supposed to be getting prepared for the trip to the oracle," he said sternly, making Riku blush in his embarrassment. He had totally forgotten about the ritual and they were supposed to be going soon. He was led to his chambers and Zack closed the door, leaving him inside with his mother's handmaiden. She was beautiful and Sir Zack's lady. Her long brown hair went down in waves down her back and the short pieces at each side of her head pulled back and braided down. Her bright green eyes looked over to him as she bowed to him slightly with a smile.

"Young Prince Riku, you must hurry and get dressed, the family is to be leaving at any moment." In a speed that he didn't know he hand, he had bathed, dressed, and put on all of the royal regalia, allowing Lady Aeris, as she was called, to brush out his ear length silver hair. Pulling out the thin silver circlet, Aeris placed it on his head neatly, making him look like the actual crowned prince he was.

"Now hurry along my prince, the carriage is waiting for you," she said, walking him out quickly. Outside of the door, Zack lead him out of the castle and to the waiting carriage outside. Helping him in, he himself got in and they rode out into the distance.

Riku never really remembered what happened on their ride up their, or how he had managed to meet with his family in their ancestral shrine but he had done so and was then kneeling on a worn and old cushion, one that he believed had been there for a century. As he rested on it, dust seemed to come up in clouds and he had to resist the urge to sneeze.

Looking at his family, at that moment, he was proud. His father King Siegfried kneeled regally and sternly, his long silver hair coming down in waves to his upper back, a large silver crown with emeralds placed above his head. His green eyes were stern and wrinkled with age and wisdom. Riku had always looked up to his father, even though they did tend to have their spats and he was a bit strict on his sons. But deep down, when he would occasionally pull them out of bed to teach them swordsmanship, or spoke praises of him, or even pulled him aside to tell him how proud he was to sire such children, Riku always knew that he had loved them.

His mother Queen Aileen had a complete opposite personality to her husband. She was open, outwardly loving, nurturing, and very playful. Today she wore her long ghostlike hair in a braid that was arranged around her head like a circlet, a delicate silver tiara placed on top. Her long emerald dress pooled around her, making her look like a fairy queen like the ones he had heard about in her stories. He wouldn't be surprised if a pair of gauze wings emerged from her pale back.

Then it was his elder brother. Sephiroth was the odd one in the family. Everyone in the castle was on guard when he strolled along the corridors. His attire normally consisted of an emerald open tunic and worn black pants tucked into his well used black boots. The family never really cared about their appearance in the castle and Sephiroth was the epitome of that. Even in the worst clothing imaginable, one could always tell that his family was important. They all carried a certain noble aura, something that was born into them through years of successful breeding.

The elder prince, then aged sixteen, kneeled determinedly, looking like what Riku imagined his father to be as a teenager. His long silver hair was tied back with a black ribbon and smoothed out to perfection, running down his back like a clear river. Upon his head was a simple silver ring of a crown, similar to Riku's but had a stripe across it, marking him as the first son.

Riku maintained his position on the cushion, aiming to make his family proud, and was able to last throughout the long incantations to their farthest ancestor, Jenova. Just as he was about to fall asleep with his eyes open, the shrine began to grow cold and he swore that he could hear singing voices. Then, standing before them, was a beautiful blue woman, her long silver hair spilling over her shoulders, her bright yellow eyes looking over them.

The poor young prince had to resist the urge to scream as she approached them. She gazed over his brother and then to him, making him feel her eerily icy gaze. He wavered a little and gazed down, trying to keep his composure.

She straightened up and closed her eyes, allowing herself to slowly disappear, saying the few words that would change his life forever.

_My fair children let it be known_

_That in this kingdom, your happy home_

_The eldest child in treachery shall be slain_

_And the youngest babe shall be named_

_The true heir of the throne_

And so Riku was heir.

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A/N: Yeah, so this is pretty much a prologue to the whole story. The next chapter shall be where the true story begins. I have to start somewhere right? Well, the first chapter should be up at any time tomorrow, in the evening at the very latest. However, I think that I should be done by tonight. So I hope you like it. I modeled the kingdom of Midgard after the Nordic, Celtic, and basic northern European old kingdoms. You could give me any suggestions. That would be awesome. Well, on to the next chapter. And don't forget to review! 


	2. The Fall of Midgard

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney do.

A/N: Now is where the story starts. Sorry but this will be a sad chapter. So bear with it and I hope that you still will like it. But you will get a happy little treat at the end of this chapter. So enjoy!

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Lover of the Lake

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**Chapter Two: **_The Fall of Midgard_

"Prince Riku! Find shelter!" yelled Sir Reno as he and Rude battled the rebel knights, slaying them with ease. Grabbing his sword, the now nineteen-year-old prince nodded to them and fled down the hallways. He didn't understand what was going on and who really was attacking them but he knew that on this once peaceful morning they were ambushed. There were screams and cries as he could smell the faint odor of smoke.

'A fire!' he thought as he ran at full speed down past the courtyard. He had to find his mother who he knew to be in her chambers at this time. His father would be able to take care of himself and escape but Queen Aileen was becoming frail from a disease she had contracted a few years back. The kingdom believed it was her broken heart after Prince Sephiroth abandoned his throne and traveled to the East that seven years ago. Now she wouldn't be able to even take walks out in the countryside as she had loved to, she was confined to her room.

Slamming open the doors, Riku managed to evade the rush of the rebels and found the queen's chambers. Everything was in total array and his worried eyes searched each way to find the queen.

"Mother!" he cried, shoving open each door in search of her. All he could hear was the constant rustling of papers from the broken windows and the screams of women being ravished and murdered. He couldn't understand how this could happen? How could his brother do such a thing to his own people, his kinsman? The people who had raised him and shown nothing but love?

He heard something moving and ran to the bedchambers. Upon the floor, lying in a pool of her own blood was Aileen, grasping onto life as it was leaving her. Riku dropped his sword and ran over to her, pulling her up to lie in his lap. Her beautiful features had grown even paler as she winced in pain, clutching at the gaping wound at her stomach.

To him, the queen appeared to be like a fallen butterfly, her long white robes falling all around her as she tried to suck in breaths, feeling life draining from her. She had been so beautiful once, so full of life and happiness. They all had been happy long before the damned incident with the oracle Jenova. He felt her cold and delicate hand brush against his cheek lovingly, letting her crystalline tears flow.

"My son," she started, giving a glowing smile. It was the smile he had remembered all of his life, the one that told him that everything would be alright. But everything was not alright. The castle was ambushed and everything he held dear in his life was falling apart before him.

"Don't speak mother, I'm here to rescue you," he whispered, preparing himself to carry her. She weakly grasped his arm and shook her head.

"No my child, I'm not worth the saving." This made a few tears fall down his own face, landing on her gauze sleeve.

"Of course you are mother, I'm going to save you and everything will be okay."

She smiled as she caressed her son's face. "You need to leave this place and don't come back. If you don't your brother will kill you."

Pausing, she reached up to her neck and, with a final hard pull, she tore off the chain around her neck and handled the charm to him. It was a good luck charm to the people of Midgard, a silver orb wrapped in what appeared to be silver ivy. It glittered and shone as he held it, inspecting it quickly.

"It is the tear of the Ancients. As long as you have it close to you we'll always be in your heart," she said as she watched him slip it into his pocket. Smiling through her tears, she laid her head against his chest.

"Your father and I have always been so proud of you my beautiful child," she continued as she began to close her tired eyes. "I love you."

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With tears streaming down his face, he hurriedly ran out of the palace and down to the courtyard to the long gateway to the outer stables. The fighting was getting worse as he watched Midgard Castle, the place where he was born, where his family lived happily, and where his mother and father now rested, all burn in flames. The once clear sky of a happy day was now tinged red and gray with the smoke.

His legs had gone weary as he still continued to run. Ahead of him was Sir Zack, kneeled over his love Aeris, long dead in his arms. He paused as he saw the sight of his mentor mourning over her, her bruised legs peeking out of her torn skirts. Almost everyone was dead, Sir Rude and Sir Reno, his mother, and recently his father as he saw his head being sliced off by his own son Sephiroth on the highest tower overlooking the city. He almost vomited again at the recollection of how his head, once tall and mighty, loving and fatherly, bounced off of the rafters and rooftops before he heard a loud squelch as it hit the ground like a fallen melon.

A few extra soldiers came and, after noticing the weeping knight, they drew their swords and each plunged them into his back, hearing a muffled choking sound before he fell in a heap at the floor. Holding back his cries, Riku clutched his mother's necklace close to him and squeezed his eyes shut, hiding against the hedges, trying not to be seen.

As soon as they had been gone, the prince then ran to the other side, charging to the gate when he felt a rough hand grab his arm, making him drop the necklace as he was spun around. It was another rebel soldier, his bright yellow eyes sending fear to his very soul. Grasping his sword quickly, he sliced the man from his belly to the top of his chin, feeling his muscles quaking with each inch of his blade.

With a hollow shriek, the man clutched at his gaping wound as his intestines poured outonto Riku's boots, making him clutch his own stomach in repulsion. The man then collapsed in the sea of his own filth, eyes still shot open in terror. Leaning over to the bushes,Riku's stomach lurched upward as he emptied out the last of his earlier meal, quivering at the feel of his energy waning. He had never killed a man before, or any living thing for that matter and it had shocked him to no end. Wiping the rest of his vomit from his mouth with the back of his hand, he grabbed the necklace on the grass behind him and staggered out to the stables.

Luckily there were no warriors left at that area, it was pretty well hidden for such situations as this. There were two horses left, his mother's gray mare and his father's great black steed. Grabbing every supply left in the barn, he put the sacks on Gala, his mother's horse and then hopped onto Ragnarok, the midnight horse and quickly galloped away.

Looking back, he saw that the flames had fully engulfed the castle, the screams suddenly ceasing eerily, acknowledging the fact that they were all dead. But the scariest thing he had seen, one thing that would haunt him for many nights was the sight of his brother, standing tall on the highest tower, his long hair waving in the wind and his black cloak rustling behind him as he gave out a loud and maddening laugh.

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It was night and he was now walking the two tired horses down the heavily wooded forest. The cold wind brushed against his now tired skin, making him shiver. It had been a few weeks since he had left and he was soon growing hungry, having eaten the last carrot from the pack an hour ago. His stomach grumbled painfully and he choked back on tears yet again.

He had missed his mother who would always hold him close when he was lonely and told him how proud she was of him. His father was now gone from him as well as he cried, feeling the loneliest and weakest at this particular time. There was no one to protect him now; he was alone to protect himself from all that could hurt him. He was also alone to fight his brother. He knew that there would be a time when he would have to slay him and avenge his family and kingdom.

Pushing back the brush from the ancient and eerie trees, he viewed a large clearing. It reminded him again of his mother, of the stories of fairies that would skip in the enchanted forests with unicorns and bathe in beautiful glowing pools like the one before him. It seemed so calming and soothing that he stumbled over to it, not caring to tie up the horses. He didn't care at this time as he fell upon his knees and cupped his hands into the water.

Drinking the cool water from his hands, he felt truly at peace. It was so soothing that he sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the stars. They twinkled and shone above him, each as he knew it being one of his ancestors, watching over him. His parents were now there as well, shining next to each other somewhere in all of their magnificence.

Tears then streamed down his face again, landing in the pure water. At this time, more than ever, he wanted to be a part of those stars, to be able to be at rest, not having to fight to live on, being content to just watch other wretches suffer on the planet as he could show off his own beauty. It was an inner beauty that was now waning. His soul was dimming as he made each step on his journey, on his journey where? Where was he truly going? How far did he have to continue until he could be out of Midgard and into the next country?

The country of Balaam didn't even like his family and he knew that he would only be sent away like the plague onto the next country until he was killed or faded away. But the glow of the lake was comforting; it seemed to hold life itself in it, like the tale of the Life stream that runs beneath Midgard herself. It was said that if one plunged themselves into the Lifestream the person would be granted their greatest wish.

Smiling despairingly at the water, he threw himself over the small ledge and into the deep pool with a loud splash. He could faintly hear the horses rear up and whinny as he sunk down the glowing blue water. After a while, he stopped hearing the frightened horses and only heard the sound of the water bubbling and flowing around him as he held out his arms, embracing it.

The air soon began to leave him as he closed his eyes, smiling as he too began to feel life leave him. It was perfect, cool, and felt as if everything around him sparkled. He felt new and perfect, free from the blood stains from the stains of his mother upon his tunic, free from the sweat and filth he had when he ran for his life away from his only home, and free from the residue from the guts of the first man he had ever killed in his life. Riku was free as he smiled and felt the weariness of death on him as he remembered to think of his wish.

'I wish for…'

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Suddenly the prince gasped feeling oxygen in his lungs as he looked around him sitting up, clutching the necklace at his chest. He was back on the ledge where he had fallen into the water. Feeling his face, he felt the wetness of what he assumed to be the water from the lake upon him. Looking to his hands, he tried to remember what had happened.

He was sure he had fallen in the water, drowning himself. Everything glowed and he made his wish. It should have been it, he should have died. However he was here and it didn't add up. Then, he felt a tingling sensation upon his lips. Touching them delicately, he remembered.

As he was drowning, he remembered the feeling of someone swimming up to him, gently holding his face. Then, he felt angel soft lips press gently against his own filling him with needed air and his heart fluttering back to life. When the prince opened his eyes, he saw the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen, gazing at him with concern. At that moment, he remembered not wanting those beautiful eyes to be sad but to be happy, to fill with the light that he knew that it had to have within them.

Then he remembered kissing those lips again, feeling calm wash over his soul. And he then blacked out, leaving himself here at that particular moment. Looking around, he sighed, not being able to find the maiden with the beautiful blue eyes, the woman who had saved his life. Another tear fell down his cheek as he laid back down, trying to find sleep. This tear however was different from the others. It wasn't out of fear or from anger, it was from true sadness from the thought of never being able to see such a beautiful pair of eyes again.

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May it be an evening star_

_Shines down upon you_

"Mmm…" moaned the now rousing prince as he turned to the side, squeezing his eyes shut as he was leaving the realm of sleep. He dreamed about those haunting blue eyes and what he envisioned the body of the maiden to appear as. There was an enchanting voice floating around the lake, singing a beautiful song. The voice was heavenly, like that of a goddess, stranded upon the land to sing her haunting melodies.

Riku then heard the sound of water lapping and the voice continued, the song filling his soul.

_May it be when darkness falls_

_Your heart will be true_

Looking over to the side, and clearing his sleep fogged eyes, he saw her. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her back was to him but he could tell her beauty as she pulled her thick and wavy brown hair over her shoulder, running the water from her fingers to her long locks to clean it. Her back was curved just so, showing off her perfect figure as she bathed in the glowing lake, her long fingers moving over her tanned hips and soft shoulders.

His heart stopped as he watched her continue to sing, the song flowing from her beautiful body.

_You walk a lonely road_

_Oh how far you are from home_

The song touched him as he slowly began to sit up and then, feeling daring, stand. It was as if her song was drawing him in, making him a slave to her lovely melody. Walking over slowly, he stood at the edge of the pool, watching her. Each move she made was filled with grace and he soon was succumbing to the urge to touch her to see if she was indeed real or a figment of his imagination.

Right when his boot touched the water, the woman turned eyes wide in shock. He gasped at them. There they were those bright blue eyes, the ones that saved him from his death, the one that breathed life back into his body and soul.

He then panicked. She was going to run and he knew it. Rushing over to the water, he waded in to the naked woman, trying to prevent her from leaving.

"Don't leave. I won't hurt you," he said as he waded over to her. She stood there in the middle of the lake, eyes frightened at what he might do. With a quick dive, she went under the water and disappeared.

"Wait! I didn't even get your name!" he called as he then dove down too, trying to find her. However, she was nowhere to be found and he felt his heart ache at that thought. All was clear blue and there wasn't a sign of her. She was gone.

Resurfacing, he looked around the surface for any sign of her there but she wasn't on land either. Tiredly, he went back to the bank and plopped his soaked body back down onto the water's edge, watching the two horses nuzzle each other and whinny. She was gone now and there wasn't any hope in him that she would come back.

As he began to walk over to the horses, he heard a bubbling sound from the lake and turned around curiously. Shooting out from the water was the woman, throwing back her head and breathing in the air as she bobbled back in the water, smoothing the hair from her face. Her eyes looked over to him in recognition and she smiled, walking her way slowly out of the water until she was at the bank, dry and wearing a long array of white cotton and gauze.

"My name is Sora,"

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A/N: Wow, this chapter was a rush. Sorry about that. I know I should have added so many more things to make the fall of Midgard a lot more sad and tragic but I wasn't in the mood right now. So I guess I might just have to re-upload a longer version some time in the future. Well, Sora is in here but you might be wondering, 'isn't Sora a boy?' Well, the story shall be getting to that in the next chapter hopefully if all goes well. Until then, you all can just wonder about it. But it is the same Sora that we all know and love, don't get me wrong. Just see. Review you all! 


	3. Lady of the Lake

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney do. And I don't own the song "May it Be" by Enya.

A/N: This is now my third Kingdom Hearts story. I hope I get them all done. By the amount of reviews I'll make priority on which story comes out faster. So keep reviewing the ones you enjoy most. This story is kinda weird but it'll get more close to the characters from now on so don't worry. And in this chapter you will understand a little bit of Sora's origin. Well, enjoy!

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Lover of the Lake

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**Chapter Three**: _Lady of the Lake_

Sora stood before the tattered prince, glowing in all of her white shrouded glory. He had seemed so shocked to see her standing there, as if he had thought she had walked out of his life as quickly as she had walked in. Tilting her head curiously to the side, she blinked her wide blue eyes at him. Why was he so shocked? He had asked for his name after all?

The silver-haired prince took an uneasy step forward, making her step back.

"I don't mean to scare you Sora," he assured her as he took another slow step. She held her hands to her chest and looked down in fear. Whenever she was on land she felt cornered, trapped with nowhere to flee but on foot. He sensed her fear and paused for a few seconds.

"Young lass," he started, trying to use all of the princely charms he had to learn. Sora then paused and looked up, eyes uncertain. "Who are you? Where are you from?"

She looked to him in confusion. He still wanted to talk to her? Sure she was used to the random few that would wander into the clearing. And she would simply hide as they would drink their fill from the pool and leave. Some would even stay the night as shelter. But this one actually caught her bathing. And she was careless enough to let herself be put into the situation. But something in him made her yearn to be in his presence. Was it the feelings that he had when he fell into her pool, the feelings that she now knew?

"I am the Lady of the Lake though I am hardly a lady," she said, wrapping her arms around her own body. This was all a mistake, a big mistake. She should have fled and stayed in the lake until he had left. But when he dove into the water after her, he was so filled with longing, fear, and anxiety that she couldn't stay there.

He raised an eyebrow to her, stepping closer until he was in front of her. Sora stood there and held her ground, trying to find the courage to be so close to him. But on the inside she was trembling almost violently. Reaching out, he raised out his hand and placed it gently on her cheek, looking into her eyes. She blushed and held his gaze.

"Why are you scared of me?" he asked, rubbing her downy cheek with her thumb.

"I haven't been intimate with anyone before. I'm not used to this kind of contact," she said, making the prince blush and withdraw his hand in embarrassment. Was it something she said? That was the question in her mind as she watched him pull back a little and coughing embarrassedly into his fist.

"Well you make it sound so…"

"Adulterous?" she asked, catching the prince off guard. He blinked and then laughed, making her chuckle lightly herself.

"I guess you could say that." He then looked up and around. The lake had since lost its life-filled glow. Now it seemed like a regular pond, its surface placidly still. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I've been here since I was a child," she said.

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**Sora**

I've been here since I was a small child, about four or five. The village I lived in was suffering a disease from the water that we were drinking. My mother was pregnant at the time and she too fell ill with the disease. I remember the look on my father's face when he found the flaky blue patches on my mother's neck. She was so beautiful, so very beautiful. She used to have me brush her long brown hair, watching the waves fall down her back. In this form I'm reminded of her, having her long elegant hair and full pink lips. Even my rosy cheeks are like hers. If there could possibly be an angel on earth, my mother was one.

But when she became ill, everything fell apart. My father panicked and cried. If the disease continued, he would lose his wife and the baby, leaving him with only me. And I was a handful myself, always getting dirty and bringing it into the house, or breaking things and constantly getting into trouble.

"There's nothin' we can do Ira, you have to let me go. Take care of Sora," she would tell him. But I knew that it wouldn't get to him, not a word. She meant so much to him that he would do anything for her. When people fall in love, they lose their grip on reality and all sense whatsoever.

So, my father went to each doctor and oracle he could, anyone who could even slow down the disease that was killing her. But all he received were quack potions and false answers. He began to despise me more with each given day. It hurt that my father began to lose his love for me, but I endured. I still loved him and I wanted to help ease his pain. So I would at times run away, hide in the pastures with our cows or in the barn next to the old cat. I found a place with them and they became like my second family.

Then, the day came. Father had come home bearing flowers and candies, a wide grin on his face. He scooped up my bulging mother into his arms and began to dance a jig with her. He gave her flowers from a flower shop and me candies from town. I remembered they tasted so good in my mouth, a swirl of chocolate and strawberry, or lemon, or even orange. We had a feast and father told us that he had found a way for mother to get better.

"But to get all that wi' need, I need to take Sora wit' me on the cart. It's a heavy load Orphia," he had said as he relished in the taste of warm mashed potatoes and heavily tenderized meat.

"Well be careful dear, I don't want you to go off and get hurt now." Father only laughed and pat me on the head.

"Don' worry love, I'll keep out for 'im. He's 'bout to be a big brother now eh?" he said, making me smile. Yes, I was to be a big brother, a really splendid one at that. I was to be someone strong, someone that could show the land and be looked up to. And my father's encouraging smile on his handsome face, his bright blue eyes shining down at me, I knew that all was to be alright. I was to help mother get better.

The morning we left on the cart with the old mule Fanny, mother made us a basket of salted meats, bread, and a small block of goat cheese to carry us for the day-long trek to and back from wherever we were going. I gave my mother a big hug and she kissed me on the forehead, telling me to be safe and to stay on the cart. I put my head on her stomach.

"Now baby, wait for me and da' to get home. Don't make mom angry," I said and kissed it. We were to come back in about a day and I wanted to make extra sure.

"Hurry up Sora, ya' don' wanna keep your mother waitin' now," he said in his thicker accent. Unlike everyone else in the village, father was from the outskirts of the kingdom, giving him his rich black hair and deep blue eyes. Also his accent was a lot thicker and rougher, making him more of a man in my eyes. He picked up my scrawny form and placed me into the cart and kissed my mother before he picked up the reins and started down the long dirt road from our little house.

It seemed longer than a day of riding on the cart but I didn't protest as I became sore from sitting on the wobbly wooden bench. My father decided to give me his small whittling knife and pulled off a think branch from a nearby tree, telling me to make something pretty for my mother. I decided to make a bird since she always loved them so much.

However, while I was paying attention to the misshapen bird I was carving with care, I didn't notice that we took a slightly different turn. By the time that I looked up, we were in a beautiful wood. There were fireflies buzzing around lazily and it almost seemed as if elves would be peeking out of the trees curiously. I wanted to run and play but I had to stay in the cart like mother said so I stayed.

When the brush got too thick, my father then picked me up and helped me out of the cart, tying Fanny to a nearby tree. He kept telling me that we had to go through the forest and what was on the other side would make my mother get better. So we continued and I kept up with him, my unfinished carving in my small side-pouch.

Then we reached a lake. Not a lake really, just a large pond that was like an oversized well in the ground. It glittered and glowed in many beautiful colors but it looked dull at the same time.

I was about to ask why we were here when a beautiful woman appeared out of the water. She was beautiful with long pure white hair and ghost-like silver eyes. Her skin was like fresh fallen snow and she had a cherubim look about her face. But no matter how angelic she looked, she was scary.

Even to this day I'm scared of the woman that emerged from that lake. And when my father pushed me towards her and she dragged me in with her while I screamed and cried, I realized that my assumptions were right. The woman was a witch.

My father had made a deal with the Lady of the Lake. If she was given a child to keep her company until her death, she would spare my mother from the disease that she was giving the village herself. It was a disease in spite after they had refused to give her a child prior. And so, because of that exchange I was the heir to all she held, a mystical but abandoned pond and eternal loneliness.

She was fair to me, teaching me everything that she knew and caring for me as if I was the last thing that kept her in this world, which I was. But throughout my childhood and teenage years, I was weary of her. The few times she let me leave the cold waters of the lake to wander about the pond's bank, I was alone and missed having children to play with or a mother to sing songs with. I even missed watching my father clap out a dancing tune by slapping his knees and watching my mother dance, kick, and jump with the beat.

I had no music here, only the far away song of birds or the sound of the wind hurriedly rushing past the trees. This place was a cursed place were no living thing or positive energy dared to cross.

Throughout my years, I began to see a change in myself. My once short and boyish hair had begun to grow into long and wavy tresses, growing until they rested like a halo around my young face and to my backside. Also, the more shocking thing was that my whole body itself was beginning to change. Instead of being like the village boys and deepening in my voice and growing tall and lanky, my voice began to soften and I was filling out in curves, almost as if a string had been pulled slowly around my waist, making it shrink. I began to look like my mother in almost every way. When I was about fifteen, the Lady of the Lake, Acaridae as she was called, told me that I was coming into my true form, my final and complete form, the new Lady of the Lake.

I ran away soon after that. I ran so hard that I thought that my lungs would never hold air again. But each way I turned, there was always a dead end. And with each dead end, my hopes in leaving this place waned. So, after a few days of hiding, Acaridae found me and took me back home to the lake.

My worries with her didn't seem to last long after that. For twenty more years I suffered under her, doting on her like the good _daughter_ that the cursed pond had made me become. I was broken inside, cripplingly naïve towards the outside world so that I could never make it even if I tried. I began to wish for princes and knights to come and rescue me from her, to take me from her lair and make me their wife.

I didn't care that I used to be a man, that I had lost my gender to her, that I had become a sexless sprite that was doomed to remain with the fading ruler of the pond. All I wanted was to be taken away, to see my mother, to see my sibling who I never got to see, or to even see my father so I could ask him why he forced me into such a life.

Then, after twenty-five years of servitude and forced apprenticeship, Acaridae died. She faded away and the lake became mine. I felt the surge of the water as it shot up into the sky and crashed back down, naming me the Sora, the Lady of the Lake. It wasn't a celebration, more like a festival of misery, it was my funeral. I cried again that night, feeling the true meaning of loneliness. What a cruel and heartless woman to do such a thing to me, to take me as a child and take away my life and disfigure me in a way so that she was satisfied and then die like she wasn't even there at all?

I lived there for a few years after that, laying in misery, waiting for myself to die as well, so the water can again jump up into the sky but this time never return. Though I felt old and weary, feeling my true age of thirty-nine but seemingly with ten years added onto that, I still remained as the youthful beauty I was at age sixteen, flawless and perfect.

Then, after my ninth year in solitude, as my ageless body rested under the bottom of the lake, I felt a jolt. It wasn't a normal pang like when someone drinks out of me or when a sheepskin water sack is put into me. This jolt felt like a million hands shaking you all at once. It was disorienting and I panicked. What was happening to me? Is this death?

A rush of sadness came over me, feelings of suicide, loss, anger, and helplessness entered my soul. It was a crippling sensation. What was this confusion, this loneliness? Why am I feeling this way? A flood of memories crossed over my mind and I knew that someone was in me, someone had fallen into the lake. Materializing into my form, I began to swim up when I saw him.

The prince I saw in the memories, he was floating down to my dark depths. He was beautiful. Even as he drowned he looked like an angel with his shoulder length silver hair and long black eyelashes. As I swam up to him, he became even more gorgeous. How could something so beautiful be so sad? How could the heavens allow such misery on such a divine looking soul?

The scariest thing to me was his smile. He was smiling, even to his death, his perfect lips twisted into a despairing but happy grin. Then, I felt him slipping away.

"I wish for…" I heard him think as I reached out for him. When I touched his shoulder, a flood of images rushed over me. They all were of happiness, of him and what I guessed to be his father, mother, and brother, all smiling and happy together. They all seemed like they would be happy but there was a pang of sadness that came with it. He wanted his family back?

Then I felt it, his heartbeat, the one that pulsated in my ears, had stopped. Holding his limp face in my hands, I felt my eyes burn as I looked up to his lovely face. There was no reason why a soul as beautiful as his was to die, to feel pain and that misery before that final release of his spirit. I placed a kiss on his lips and felt a curious tingle from it. Did I do something?

Bringing him up to the water I pulled him up onto the bank, collapsing on top of him tiredly. His horses reared and cried out as they ran out of the clearing. I had no worry for them, the woods were magical so they couldn't get far even if they tried. Turning my attention back to the prince, Riku as he was called, I brushed my hand across his face, wishing that there could be some sign that he hadn't died, that he could actually be alive and I could actually see the handsome man that I had seen in his memories.

I cried for him that night, as the moon hung high and the stars shone brightly over us. This man, the closest person that I had to true company, committed suicide in my arms and died within me. But, as I cuddled up to his chest and hummed to his pale and limp form, I thought about how it would be if I actually could have known him.

If he had been alive, would he still be the person that I had seen in those million memories? Would he be afraid of me, want to slay me, or even maybe like me? But what would happen if he fell in love with me? I already knew that since the first time I laid eyes upon his drowning form and seeing his life that I fell for him. But a relationship between the both of us wouldn't work out. After all, I _am_ the Lady of the Lake and I am forever destined to be here until the day I die.

And even if I _was_ able to make it out of here alive, how would he feel when I told him I'm really a man trapped in a manufactured woman's body? Would he still love me? Or even worse, would he turn me away, back to my watery prison? As I slept on top of him, relishing in the feel of his muscles under his shirt, I thought of this all, never knowing that when I would be carelessly taking my bath, he would awaken.

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A/N: Yes, yet another short but insightful chapter of this story. The plot will be coming in soon, hold your horses! Hehe! Well, I hope you all still like this. I think I might just make it in first person from one character to the next on each chapter. I don't know though so you all can please give me some kind of feedback. That would be helpful. Well, I'm up late trying to get this done so this little note won't be long. But don't forget to review! Bums! Hehe. Just kidding. But please review. Thank you. 


	4. The Journey Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney do.

A/N: I was prompted to type this chapter after watching a rather cute episode of Petite Princess Yucie. I just got into the show after my mom got me Anime Network on Demand. I love the blonde guy. If you've watched the show, you know him, Kraft or Brad… some name. It's Ark! Yeah, he's freaking hot! So there was my overly girly moment there. It brought me to type up a rather cute chapter of this story. Well, not really, but it'll be pretty satisfactory so enjoy.

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Lover of the Lake

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Chapter Four: _The Journey Begins_ **

It was night time and the lake glowed a calming and beautiful sea green, illuminating the small clearing in its soothing light. Prince Riku laid at the bank of that pond, hand drifting into the water as he slept peacefully. It had been a month since he had first encountered the beautiful maiden he had come to know as Sora Kelly. Slowly, the lady of the lake nursed him to health with her crystal clear water and enchanted herbs from the surrounding area.

Waking up, he looked up to the sky and sighed contemplatively. It had been a long time since the ruin of his country and he needed to leave the small oasis to confront his brother. But doing so meant he would have to leave Sora behind to loneliness. Hearing her story filled his heart with an overwhelming sense of sadness. She had been so miserable to live alone for years that he didn't have the heart to just leave her now.

Looking into the water, he rested his head on his arms and sighed yet again. He had responsibilities to uphold, like it or not. His mother and father in the Lifestream were counting on him to restore his country back to its former glory as the true king. Not only was it his parents but the many men that gave their lives to protect him for those few seconds to escape, the many women and children that were slaughtered, and the people that were now forced to be under his brother's rule.

'I guess I have to go,' he thought as he sat himself back up to a comfortable position. 'I don't know how I'm going to tell Sora. I guess this is goodbye.' A lingering feeling stirred within him as his eyes clouded in sadness. This was going to be the last time that he was going to see her.

"Lady of the Lake!" he called out, rising to his feet in a very princely manner. The waters swirled up and glowed a small array of blues and greens before the beautiful form of the Lady of the Lake emerged, her hair blowing around her as she hovered over the waters. Opening her clear blue eyes, she smiled sweetly towards him.

He, however, averted his eyes from her, pain deep within him. "What is bothering you Riku?" she asked, walking her pale feet across the water towards him. Looking up into his eyes, she placed a hand upon his cheek tenderly. "Tell me my prince, what is hurting you?"

"I have to be leaving soon."

Sora paused at this and frowned slightly. "I only wish that I could take you with me. We could leave this place together and we could find your parents or you could even live with me in my castle if you want," said Riku, blushing slightly at the proposition of living with him.

"Okay."

"Wait, what?"

"I said okay." Sora then entwined her hand into his affectionately, looking up to him. "I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if that's what you want," she said, making him blush even more.

"Well," he started with a cough. "You'll have to learn to be a bit more… _reserved_, if that's the word for it. People will get the wrong idea if they see you acting this way towards me in public. They'll think were… uh…"

Sora cocked her head to the side innocently.

"Lovers?" she said, her expression not fazing. Riku blinked and then put on a more stoic expression.

"Well, yeah."

"Do you not want to be Riku?"

At this question, the prince then pulled away from her hand and walked over to the horses, putting the packs back on them. 'Oh God this is so difficult. How can a woman say such things and look so innocent at the same time? How could _anyone_ so easily say things like that with a straight face?' he thought as he gave a frustrated sigh.

Then a realization hit him.

"Wait, Sora," he said as she awkwardly began her ascension up the black stallion. She was still trying to swing her leg over the other side of the horse and angrily hiking up her skirts. Watching this, the prince had to hold back a chuckle at her embarrassing situation.

"I hate being in this body! It's of no use whatsoever," she huffed as she finally made it over to the other side with a loud ripping sound to acknowledge it.

"Um… Lady Sora? How are we to escape this forest? How are _you_ to leave here?" Riku asked.

"Oh, um, I don't really know. I _do_ know that I _can_ leave here if folk tales are correct," she said as she looked up in thought.

"Well, what do you mean you don't really know?" he asked, now starting to feel a bit of panic rise up in him. If they couldn't leave, they were doomed. Actually, he knew that _he_ would be doomed, Sora was the Lady of the Lake after all and she shouldn't have any problem if she was stuck there.

"Don't worry my prince, I definitely know that _you_ can get out of here. I've seen many wanderers come and go so I know that there is an actual way out."

Riku mounted his mother's gray mare and pulled lightly on the reins, trying to calm her down just a little. The irritated horse simply stomped its hooves to the ground, shaking its head from side to side.

"Well, lets set out," said Riku, starting the horse to a slow walk. Sora awkwardly did the same, allowing the large black stallion to direct itself close behind.

Within a few hours of riding, the trees once so dense seemed to clear around them, almost in a path, trying to lead them outwards. The sound of birds soon began to come to their ears as they continued onwards. Riku glanced back over his shoulder, watching the Lady of the Lake as she looked around with blue eyes aglow, seeming like a child.

At that moment, a small smile cracked its way upon the prince's face. She seemed really happy to finally be able to escape the cursed forest.

"Lady Sora," he called, facing back ahead. She looked up at him and nodded her head slightly.

"Yes my prince?"

Riku sighed at the sound of that. Whenever she was talking to him, it always sounded like she was his servant, always using 'prince' or 'my lord' in addressing him.

"You know that there is no reason for you to address me as such."

"Well what shall I say my prince?" she asked, cocking her heard to the side, a stray lock of thick wavy hair falling into her face. Riku looked up to the branches as he swatted a few back, making sure that they didn't fall back and hurt the woman behind him.

"Oh, I don't know. How about Riku?" he proposed, swinging his leg over the saddle, sliding easily off of his horse.

"But I can't call you by your first name like that. With all due respect-"

"And there is no reason for you to be so formal towards me either. I feel more like I'm talking to one of the servants instead of… of," he said, pausing as he tried to think of what her relationship was to him. Sure, she wasn't really a stranger; she had saved him and nursed him back to health. Also, she was the Lady of the Lake but with that, it made him think that he should instead address _her_ with a more proper title than just 'my lady.'

"Instead of a Lady of the Lake?" she asked, feeling her horse slow down as the prince began to rustle through the pack. Pulling out one of the water sacks, he poured a bit into his cupped hand, raising it to the black horse.

"Oh, I don't know. Just forget about it. The horses need some rest so maybe we should find a place to camp for a while until they are ready again," he suggested, giving the other horse water as well. Sora just nodded her head and awkwardly tried to get off of the horse, soon finding herself stuck.

"Um… Riku? I think I need some help here."

Looking back, he smiled and replaced the water bag into the saddle pack before walking over to the side of the horse.

"That is why, my lady, women must ride side saddle," he said as he motioned for her to throw her leg over the side.

"It's a stupid rule. How am I supposed to stay on if I'm so easy to slide off, especially with a dress like this?" she remarked, hearing a loud rip as her dress tore a bit more. The brunette blushed and then finally pulled her leg over.

"If it makes you more comfortable, you can ride with me instead," said the prince, making her blush even more.

"Oh no thank you. I think I'll be fine as I am."

Placing his hands at her waist, he gently lifted her off of the large horse, placing her down on the ground. Sora blushed as she felt the close contact between her and the prince. Embarrassedly, she moved away from him and walked over to the gray mare, petting its long face. The mare however snorted and whinnied loudly, backing away from her.

"Don't try to ride her. My mother's horse is very jumpy and temperamental. It's best if you stay with Oblivion, he's very docile," he said, patting the black stallion, whom Sora guessed to be Oblivion, on the nose, earning a gentle nudge against his shoulder.

It was a few more hours until they decided to proceed on again, this time the both of them walking the horses. There was so much brush that it was mostly impossible to ride the rest of the way. During the time, they talked and discussed many different things from old folk legends to their former homes. Sora smiled as she listened to Riku talk proudly of his castle and the many things that he did there.

"Tell me prince, have you ever fallen in love before?" she asked, a soft smile across her face. Riku blinked a bit and then looked away.

"Why would you like to know something like that? After all, a lady shouldn't ask such a thing."

Sora just huffed and pouted, her bright blue eyes glittering. "Well I'm not a proper lady anyway so it shouldn't matter." Seeing that there was no way out of the conversation, Riku sighed and tilted his head to the side in thought.

"Well, there was once a princess that came from the kingdom of Balaam. She was very well bred and seemed like a porcelain doll with her hair perfectly brushed and her skin white as snow. I remember that she wore the most beautiful blue dress that I'd ever seen. It was only a clear blue silk dress that was gathered at the waist with a black satin sash but she looked more beautiful in that than I had ever seen."

Looking up to the passing tree limbs, he smiled as he remembered her.

"The princess Rinoa and I were childhood friends and she was my fiancé since my birth to unite our two kingdoms. I have to say that at first I wasn't happy, she wasn't that much of a playmate for me at first and her mother never allowed her to play unless they were board games. But as time went by, I soon found that I truly liked her and even warmed up to the idea that in time, she might be my queen one day."

Sora watched with concerned eyes as Riku's expression turned to a darker mood, his eyes firmly concentrated to the path ahead of him.

"She was murdered by Sephiroth on her caravan to the castle for the wedding a year ago."

There was silence soon after that. Sora furrowed her eyebrows as she continued on, her mind deep in thought. Who was Sephiroth? She guessed that it must have been the man that was standing at the tower on the castle in Riku's memories, slicing the head off of his father in cold blood.

Closing her eyes, she clutched at her head as she remembered the intense fury and sadness that was felt when that memory went through her in the lake. There was so much pain whenever the image of that one man came through her head at that time. Even kind memories when the man would surprise him or play hide and seek in the gardens with him, or even simply having deep conversations, whenever his presence came through, it always wracked Riku with sadness.

"Sora?" asked Riku as he paused a little bit of a distance away from her, realizing that she had stopped in her walk. His face was wracked with concern as he watched her, slowly letting go of the reins.

"Is he the one that killed your father?" she asked.

"A lady shouldn't worry about these kinds of things," he said, tugging the reins of the gray dapple mare to continue onward.

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It was nightfall before they emerged into a vast green clearing. The prince scanned the horizon, trying to find any landmarks or signs of people around. 

"Where are we prince?" asked Sora as she stood close to Oblivion nervously.

"I don't know exactly but we are heading in the right direction." He then pointed over to a large row of mountains in the distance. "Those are the Nibelheim Mountains, the outskirts of my country. If we keep heading in that direction, we should find some kind of settlement."

Sora nodded and clutched at the reins tighter as she heard the haunting sound of an owl. Everything around her made her uneasy. This was a place that she never knew and combining that with the fact that she was on land with no signs of a pond in sight, she knew there weren't many places to hide for her.

A gloved hand rested on her soft shoulder. "My lady, are you cold?" he asked, receiving a small shiver in reply. He gave a comforting chuckle at this and placed a hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the gray horse.

"What are you doing?" asked Sora in a slightly fatigued manner as she felt him gently lift her and place her on the back of the giant mare, making the horse snort and stomp her feet in protest. He mounted the horse as well and pat its sides, trying to calm it down while saying soft words to it.

"Here Oblivion," he whispered, patting at his side, gesturing for the horse to come closer. It did as it was asked and Riku tied its reins to the back of the other horses' saddle. Tapping his heel at the side of the mare, they slowly set off on their way across the grassy plains.

The ride was slow and quiet as Sora tiredly rested her head into the crook of his neck, leaving Riku to look up to the stars and think. He really didn't know what he was going to do once he found a place to rest but he hoped that luck would be at his side.

"_Riku my son, when you are ever lost and can't find your way home or if you have no home to go to, you must remember to trust in fate. Fate will always pull you through even the darkest of situations and take you to the light," said his mother as she brushed her fingers through her son's hair._

_Prince Riku was no older than ten years of age at that time, looking up at his beautiful mother with his regal eyes. "But you'll always be here won't you mother? I don't need Fate if I have you," he said with a pout. The queen simply sighed and held her son close, rubbing his back soothingly._

"_Oh Riku, you are still a child and I hope that there never is a day that I'll have to leave you but someday Death will come for me. I just hope that when it does, you will have your father's strength to carry on and move forward," she said giving him a kiss on his smooth forehead._

Clutching at the necklace around his neck, he closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. His mother had left him, as well as the rest of his family and everything he had come to know. Now he had to respect his mother's wishes to move forward and survive until the day that he was to fight for his family's honor and slay his brother.

"Riku…" sighed the woman in his arm as she nuzzled her face deeper into his neck, her lips grazing his skin. Rubbing a hand over her shoulder, he smiled as he watched her breathe slowly. He had made his first step and saved her from her prison. However, he wondered how far would he take her until it was time for them to say goodbye? Would it be at the end of that hillside or would it be at the end of his journey?

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A/N: I know, this chapter sucks and is pretty lame. I tried to get this one out. I have a great chapter planned ahead but I needed to get this one out. I promise you will love the next one. It is filled with laughter, fun, and might we say, a bit of jealousy? Haha. Well, I hope that you will review because that will make the next one come out a lot faster and better too! I'd love to hear from you! Until then. 


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